Taang Week 2013
by Jenisist
Summary: My first shot at writing fanfiction. Little unrelated drabbles of Taang!
1. Regret

There had been regrets from the beginning.

He regrets the circumstances of their first encounter, blowing her out of the ring and ruining her championship title was not the way to make a good first impression on her. Though she'll give him silent praise for his bravado later, but never will admit it.

She regrets his misfortune, their misfortune. A group of children should not be placed with the weight of the world on their shoulders, though she loved every minute of it, and still does, nearly fifteen years later.

They both regret the beginning of their loving each other. It was a mutual friendship that thrived with progression in secrecy. At first it was without permission, unexpected. It was hard to accept once the realization hit, leaving for awkward situations and invisible tension in the air. Plenty of evenings of static accidental touches, rosy cheeks and fast beating hearts.

But so, so glad they are of the way time has brought them to now. All of those regrets, little inconveniences are long forgotten with the warming of his skin under her fingertips, followed by lovely whispers. Forgotten when nothing matters, exists, in the world except for the other. And in those moments a little thought flashes through his mind that no matter what the regrets between them are today, or what regrets may be made in the future, can not outweigh the feeling of joy they make together.

When he tells her this in a soft voice, he smiles, she tilts her head to hide her warming cheeks, and his heart swells. The small conversation is finished with a kiss, then lost into the night.


	2. Balance

They work well in a team, just the two of them, they balance each other out. Well shoot, they have to. Being the Chief of Police and the Avatar, the two worked with each other often.

Unfortunately for Toph's liking, the majority of their work was in meeting or offices: all clean cut and official. But tonight was different, tonight she was happy. Because at the moment, they were trailing the walls of an older warehouse building, hoping to catch a group of thugs and juvenile criminals that had become well-organized, mature, and dangerous. They had been terrorizing the businesses of Republic City for months. The Chief, after receiving some clues to the gangs possibly headquarters, made the decision to go ahead and take care of this problem, before they had a chance to grow into more serious crimes.

Of course Aang _insisted_ he come along. But this time, he meant it. Maybe because he felt it's his duty, or he needed to back up an old friend. Or just maybe he was looking for some adventure. But that morning when he had learned that Chief Beifong was prepping a special team she hand picked for the mission, he walked up to her himself and told her that he would be assisting. Surprisingly, he airbender stuck to his word, and refused to change his mind after Toph attempted to reason with him that she and he men were plenty capable of their jobs _without_ him. Yet he refused to budge, saying he just had a_ bad feeling_, and needed to come along.

So here they were, skimming an outer wall in a solid, silent and well-trained line. At least Aang agreed to follow under the Chief's orders, as if he were another one of her metalbenders. So the Chief took the front, naturally, and the Avatar brought up the rear. Toph had already confirmed that there were indeed men inside, many of them, all busy at work. All their moving around and noise they were making made it too easy for her. Quietly, she assembled and signaled to her team of their plan of entrance and attack.

At first all seemed to be working smoothly in their favor. But somehow the enemy simply wouldn't lose, whether it was a result of underestimating, or a secret weapon, it is unknown. And then the tables turned, to where _her_ men were taking hit after hit, and falling in defeat. Slowly this special operations team of the famous Republic City Police Force lost one by one, until it was only the Chief and the Avatar left standing.

Avatar Aang was moving with grace, power, and skill. Years of experience allowed him to have full control of his part in this experience. A few offered him trouble, with weapons new that he had never seen, yet he was making fine on his own. But he was unable to render assistance to Chief Beifong. Yet by judging the grunts of pain coming from her victims, and her smart remarks, he figured she wasn't needing of assistance.

"Just like ol' times, eh Twinkle Toes?" Toph tried to make light of the situation, though on the inside she was pushing her limits, screaming and cursing the spirits. Boy, what would the papers say about this? What would the City's council do? Will her men be okay?

All her thought were abruptly halted in an instant when she heard a scream of pure terror, surprise, and pain split the air.

She was on the ground slowly losing consciousness when the small thought occurred to her that it was her own scream.

Two weeks later, he was kneeling over her grave. So many varying emotions swirled within him: pain, depression, rage, lost. He would never understand how the events of that night came to be what they were. He would never understand how, _how_ a burly firebender managed to pick himself off the floor and sent a lightning bolt through her heart. He would never understand why that firebender then clobbered her body as she laid unconscious on the ground, giving her a fatal blow to the head.

Despite his status and experience, he would never understand some things in life.

He did what he needed to do, said what he needed to say to her. He let it out, then payed his respects. He thought of how different things would be now. He reminded himself of all the good times they shared.

He wondered if and when he would ever see her again.

Afterwards, he delicately placed a pearl white, blossoming lotus upon her sleek marble gravestone. He thought it resembled her well.

And it sits, beautifully above her etched name, balanced perfectly.


	3. Manners

"We'll teach her everything." His arm wrapped around the laying relaxed form of his wife, physically focused on her. While mentally, his mind was somewhere else, in thoughts of the future, as obvious in the dreamy, soft tone of his voice.

"Her? So sure, are we?" She laughed, poking fun at his daydreaming while the opportunity was open.

This brought him back to the present. He moved to support his weight on his elbows as he hovered beside her on the bed they shared. He brought his lightly forehead to hers, glancing at the classic smirk on her lips.

"Positive. Just call it,'Avatar instinct.'"

She chuckled, right in his face. "'Hah! 'Avatar instinct' _my butt. _Tell you what, wanna make a bet Twinkle Toes?"

"What type of bet, Sugarfists?"

"A bet on the topic you're so 'positive' about."

"A bet on the gender of our unborn child? Doesn't that sound slightly... barbaric?"

"Well.. it's not like it could cause any harm. It could be one of our _many_ little secrets. And plus, It gives me another chance to win against you, which I will, of course."

"'_Win against me' _huh? Well what if I so happen to be correct, _Mrs. Avatar_?" He knew there were only a select few nicknames of her she liked from him. And he knew that "Mrs. Avatar" was not one of them. He found doing little things like this was a good way of teasing her.

"Don't get your hopes up too high, _Sweetness._" She fought back with a few not-so-well-liked names of her own. "We'll see which one is stronger: a mother's intuition, or '_Avatar instinct_.'"

By now he was sitting up, listening and looking at her with a mischievous smirk. And then, thanks to the playful mood he was in, he pounced on or shoulder gingerly, ducking to nimbly snip at her neck and collar bone, where she was ticklish. While she was giggling, calling him out to stop, and squirming, he teased against her ear: "Who is going to teach her manners? Because it certainly isn't going to be you, with your _barbaric _ways." He grinned against her skin, ceasing the tickling for a moment.

She recovered quickly, turning to face him, feeling his goofy grin. She brought a hand up and brought it to the back of his neck, pulling him down for a quick, soft kiss. "Well we know it can't be you. You're 100 years stuck in the past after that iceberg experience, you uncivilized thing of a man."

He chortled. "You're the one who married this 'uncivilized thing of a-'" He was silenced when she brought his lips to hers in another kiss, a little longer than the previous, but still powerful indeed. Then more kisses came after that, growing stronger and heated.

But in a second when they catching their breath, she smiled that classic, challenging smirk at him, saying: "I'm still gonna win, Baldy."


	4. Family

"Ya know Twinkles, if you were to marry me, not only would you be the Avatar, but also married into the richest family on Earth."

"...Toph, you know I wouldn't marry you, or anyone else for that matter, because of that reason."

"I know. You're an honest man Twinkle Toes. You would marry for love, like how everyone should, and be the happiest guy alive. You and her would settle down, have a few kids, live the good life. But still, the riches are simply a bonus."

"Are you saying I should marry you, Ms. Bei Fong?"

"Did you not hear anything I just said Air Head? One should marry for love, not for tempting bonuses of riches."

There was a pause.

"I would be marrying for love. If I were to marry you, I would be marrying the woman I admire and love for so many things: from your smart remarks, your nicknames for everything, your love for nature, the earthy scent of your hair, your stubbornness, courage, intelligence, compassion... Marrying you _would_ make me the happiest guy alive, Toph."

And another pause.

"...Since when did you get so romantic, Twinkle Toes?"

"I guess you've rubbed off on me, Sugarfists."

That earned him a punch on the arm.

"Ow! I hope that was a punch of love!"


	5. Tattoos

"Tell me, Twinks, how did these go down?" She tapped the top of his hand twice, referring the his famous tattoos that showed him as a master, a historic relic, and most commonly the Avatar.

He tilted his head at a bit of an odd angle to look down at her, as she laid lazily against his torso. They had found themselves like this after their evening meal, when Toph stated her bid for entertainment. Aang knew how well she could engaged into a good conversation she was interested in, and so the talk went from topic to topic.

Yet this questions was somewhat random. Out of all the years he had known her, nearly a decade now, she never had shown a particular interest in his characterizations. But the earthbender must truly want to know, the Avatar thought, if she were to ask so directly in barely a pause between subjects. That was why he looked down, in an attempt to read a thought from her face, but was simply met with a loose, blind stare, as she swirled the tip of her finger lightly against the top of his hand.

"What do you mean by 'how did these go down,' Toph?"

She raised her hand and slowly waved it in a small circle, encouraging him to pick up onto her thoughts. "I mean, I know that once one masters airbending, they receive the tattoos, right? You've explained that before. Well, what exactly was the process for receiving your... rewards? It had to hurt." With that she dropped her hand back into her lap, and shifted slightly against him.

Aang continued his studying of her as she spoke, then blinked. With a moment of silent thinking, he grinned with an idea. He stood, bringing her up with him, and proceeded to remove his clothing until his was nearly bare.

Now Toph had a general knowledge of the locations of the tattoos from all the years of being around him, and from hearing others speak of him. But she was not expecting such a elaborate answer to her question. At first, she stifled a laugh at his strange behavior, until he revealed his actions.

"I'll show you."

He went in chronological order of which parts of his skin were tainted, beginning with his left arm. He outstretched his arm, and took her hand, guiding it along the inked path.

As her nimble fingers grazed along his skin, he explained the origin of the Air Nomad tradition. Formed as a way to give thanks to the first teachers, the sky bison, and to show respect to those with experience.

When her hand crossed to his opposite arm and began her patient studying there, he told of the tradition's history throughout time: all of its modifications. And how of yet, despite the changes, the practice survived for centuries. When she asked in a hesitated whisper: that had such a deep ritual unfortunately come to an end? He shook his head, and gave her a light kiss on the forehead.

They continued to his left leg, when he expressed of the ritual's importance. He told of how it was a responsibility to his people, to all those who came before and will come after him, to all those he loves. He explained how completing this birthright helped his culture live on.

Her hand skimmed the back of his right thigh as he was depicting the pain of the experience. He spoke truthfully: that yes, a needle pricking skin is painful, but the pain dulled as the procedure went on. He told of the various techniques used to lessen the discomfort, some which Toph cringed at their description. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly when he said, "Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be."

Finally, along the curve of his upper spine her fingers outlined the blue characterization delicately. He explained that these tattoos were a symbol of pride, heritage, commitment, love, responsibility, and of a promise. Yes, he replied, that there was a promise behind these markings. That even if all of his commonality were to be gone from the world one day, his civilization will live on, through teachings, memories, legends, and the significance they made upon the earth.

By the end of their campaign, the stars were shining in the sky, and the bright moon hung in the darkness of the night. The Avatar worked on covering himself . And the blind young woman thought back on the intimacy of the recent event, causing a sneaky slight pink to take her features. Aang didn't miss it, and made his way back to her, with a small smirk on his lips. He came up to her side and wrapped his arms around her, placing on hand purposely underneath hers, where she again tapped the top of his hand twice.

He smiled, then whispered "That, T, is how these went down."


End file.
